Salaries for Mechanical Engineers

Mechanical engineering is not just one of the broadest and most versatile of all the disciplines, it’s one of the highest paying as well. Mechanical engineers work in hundreds of industries, everything from aerospace to oil and gas. A mechanical engineer may find himself working in Hollywood, or even at NASA. The best part of course is that as a mechanical engineer you can command a very impressive salary.

Salary figures for mechanical engineers

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for a mechanical engineer in 2013 was $82,100. Top-paid mechanical engineers average around $123,000 per year with the low end still coming in at a respectable $52,000.

Best paying industries include the oil and gas sector and information services. Automotive and aerospace, including robotics, also come in toward the top end of the scale. Top-paying markets include Anchorage, Alaska; Taunton, Massachusetts; and San Jose, California.

Salary compared to other good, paying jobs

Average salaries for mechanical engineers in 2013 again topped the $85,000 per year range. What this means is that mechanical engineers earn better salaries than not just many other disciplines but other job fields as well.

Mechanical engineers make on average more than say a computer programmer or an IT tech. Computer programmer average salaries for 2013 came in at $80,000 per year. Compare that to a computer support specialist making just $64,000 a year and you can see why salaries for mechanical engineer srae so attractive.

Jobs a plenty

Mechanical engineering is one of the broadest and most popular of all the disciplines. In fact, mechanical engineers currently hold more than a quarter million jobs here in the US alone. Of those 250,000 jobs, 40 percent are based in the manufacturing sector.

The job outlook for 2015 for mechanical engineers remains robust. While the oil and gas industry is currently stalled, an employment gap in manufacturing means jobs for mechanical engineers remain in high demand. New jobs in the IT and biotechnology sectors also remain plentiful.